SARASOTA COUNTY – The famous line, “wherefore art thou Romeo?” usually heard on a stage, is now presented virtually in the Gardens.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens and the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training Partners presents Shakespeare online.
For the past four years, the Conservatory has performed Shakespeare at the Selby Gardens.
This year the performance was supposed to be Romeo and Juliet.
But because the coronavirus canceled the production set to premiere in April, they took it online.
The Conservatory director, Greg Leaming, says he’s excited to present three famous monologues.
“So, the students filmed themselves doing a number of monologues from the play inside the Selby Gardens,” Leaming, said. “It’s just a little taste of what the students have been doing and a great way for us to reaffirm our relationship with Selby Gardens.”
In a collaborative effort with the Conservatory to “Bring Selby Gardens to You,” the students recorded each of their monologues playing the parts of Romeo, Juliet, and Mercutio, at the Selby Gardens.
This was all before the governor placed the stay-at-home order.
“It’s been terrific that we’ve been able to put those performances to the public through our website, through our social media channels for a period, and just having everyone tune in to have Shakespeare in the Gardens at Home,” Marie Selby Botanical Gardens president, Jennifer Rominecki, said.
To watch the monologues, you can visit Selby Garden’s website.